Thank you, Mr. Chair.
All the people—mainly artists—who came before us during the past two meetings explained how vital this program was for them in many ways. It is a basic need of theirs because they are creators more than people who work in the commercial field. They told us that this program is, in a way, research and development for the arts and that it would nurture future production. Some even told us that it was crucial for Canada's image. These people have often won international prizes, for example Juno awards, and they are known abroad, even though they are less well known in Canada. They are known as bringers of Canadian culture. This is important.
We realize that this program costs very little, namely $1.3 million. It will be cut, but we see that it has little overlap with other programs. Others told us that this was a program that cost very little to administer and that the sums that are being cut will be redistributed. Therefore there is no advantage for the government in cutting these sums because they will be redistributed elsewhere. There is no clear justification for this nor any reasons having to do with accounting, administration or the budget.
Mr. Pineau and Mr. D'Eith, what is the basic reason behind the government's cutting this program?